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Two years before the controversial Tuggs Inc. contract came up for renewal in 2007, Basil Mangano called a senior parks official to say he was interested in bidding for the rights to sell food and beverages in the eastern Beach.

The Il Fornello franchisee said the senior parks official - then director of parks and recreation John MacIntyre - was enthused to know they had other options especially since Tuggs Inc. owner George Foulidis had indicated he had difficulty operating in the winter.

"We've got corporate support and we know how to deal with high-season, low-season issues," Mangano said last week during an interview at his tastefully decorated Queen St. E. location, in which he invested nearly $1 million to expand and renovate in 2006.

"I was confident we still could be viable in the off-season."

But to "hedge his bets" and "not step on any toes," the Beach resident thought he'd better get his councillor Sandra Bussin's blessing before pursuing the eastern Beach contract.

He said he called her office within weeks of his conversation with MacIntyre, reaching her executive assistant David McCully.

Within two days, McCully got back to him to tell him Bussin would be supporting Foulidis and his tenancy.

"There was no reason given," said Mangano.

MacIntyre, now senior v-p of corporate affairs for Build Toronto, said he absolutely remembers talking to Mangano - a couple of times - in early 2005 about a possible bid.

He recalls speaking to others as well.

"It was our intent to run an RFP process nine to 12 months prior to the deal expiring (with Foulidis)," said MacIntyre.

He added that even after he'd left the department (for another assignment) in August 2005, staff recommended the contract go to tender.

"But brighter lights decided it was best to deal with George," he said.

Bussin was resoundingly trounced in last Monday's election by newbie Mary-Margaret McMahon, who captured 65% of voter support to Bussin's 25.8%. Many Beachers say it was largely because of the sweetheart 20-year deal she championed with Foulidis - one narrowly approved by council on May 12.

Bussin did not respond to an interview request Friday. Neither did Foulidis.

The lease, the fine details of which were revealed in this space last month, gives Foulidis exclusive rights to sell beverages and food at the Boardwalk Cafe and at the D.D. Summerville pool and Kew Beach concessions.

He's been handed the same exclusive rights to the parklands at Woodbine Beach, Ashbridges Bay, Beaches park and Kew Gardens park - all of this for rent of $200,000 a year or about $16,660 a month, 20% less than what he originally offered in an unsolicited proposal in 2006.

The lease also grants Foulidis exclusive rights to the existing 90 parking spaces at Woodbine Beach - spaces for which the public pay during the summer months,

While Foulidis is supposed to make $2.15 million in capital improvements to the deteriorating Boardwalk Cafe and its patio and to the concessions, no deadline is set out in the lease to complete those renovations.

Mangano, who by contrast pays $12,000 gross rent per month for a 2,100-square-foot space, said he's kept quiet until now because he wasn't about to send out the "red flag" to his councillor - that is, give her a reason to get mad at him.

"She held the power," he said. "If I tried to go to the media, I thought she may cause me a problem in the future ... I had to protect my business first."

He definitely thinks the contract should be reopened now that Bussin is out of the picture and there's a new council in place.

I wholeheartedly agree. Reopening this deal would be no different than what Mayor David Miller did at his first council meeting of 2003 when he and his new council reopened and cancelled the fixed link to the Toronto Island Airport.

Contacted last week about that possibility, city solicitor Anna Kinastowski confirmed that the Tuggs Inc. contract can be reopened on a 50% vote by the new council.

Asked about the legal ramifications and possible financial penalties of doing so, she said those would be provided to council in a confidential briefing note.

McMahon could not be reached for comment Friday. However, she did tell a CP24 interviewer the morning after her win that she would consider pushing for a reopening.

Lawyer Martin Gladstone, who dropped out of the Ward 32 race on Oct. 8 to throw his support behind McMahon, said he's organizing a group of Beach residents to advocate for this - that is, whether an open, transparent, fair public tender can be done, with an eye to the costs of revisiting the deal.

"Maybe with a new councillor and mayor we can fix it and our whole community can be excited and engaged instead of alienated and disregarded," he said.

While he would bid for the tender if the opportunity presented itself, Mangano emphasized that he did not decide to talk simply to find a way to get a toehold in the eastern Beach.

"I am a lifelong Beacher," he said. "I want what is best for the Beach ... certainly better than what's out there."

sue-ann.levy@sunmedia.ca

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